Year in Running: 2013

This year was a year of chasing down and achieving PRs thanks to a coach who helped me turned big dreams into reality.

Best Race Experience:

I know you’d think I’d say NYCM here, but when I think of NYCM, all I can think of are those tough 3-4 miles at the end. I still have no desire to run a marathon last year. Marathons are hard.

So I’m going to say the D.C. Half! I had fairly low expectations. I just wanted to PR a little, but I PRed by 5 minutes and felt awesome pretty much the whole time.

Runner up: NYCM, duh. The first 20 miles were amazing, and the results were amazing, but those last 6 were really hard.

Best run:

It would have to be that time that I ran a 10K, ran 11 miles and then ran a mile race. I accidentally PRed, then ran 11, then ran that mile sub-7. It was so empowering to push through all of this. I felt like such a badass at the end! It started to give me a lot more confidence for my marathon.

Runner-up: Philly Half! It was just one hour and fifty-five minutes of loving running.

Best new piece of gear:

These New Balance 880v3s. Just because they’re pretty, I’m not going to lie. I mean, they’re functional, too, but I love them most for looks.

Best piece of running advice:

Just go run. Over the summer, my running was a massive pile of suck. I didn’t want to run because every time I looked at my watch, I hated what it said. Mentally, I really needed some good runs as a release, and they just weren’t happening. Detaching from all of that and just making myself get out there made things much better.

Most inspirational runner:

I’d have to say my buddy Jocelyn. I’m so impressed and inspired by her improvement over the past year or so. Last year, she ran Chicago in 4:03, ran a low 3:50-something last fall, high 3:40s in Eugene, and was seconds away from BQing this fall. That’s nearly a 30 minute improvement in less than a year. I am SO impressed and inspired by this, especially since we were around the same speed last year. It makes me think big things are possible if I believe in myself and work hard.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

I have to say first, I haven’t yet sipped the Oiselle Kool-Aid, but Go Fast, Take Chances sums up my year of running. I ran faster than I ever ever thought I could because I was willing to take that chance. My goal races could have blown up in my face, and I could have had terrible days, but I took the chance that if I trained hard, I could achieve big goals…and I did.

Even though it wasn’t my PR, I would have to say the Steamboat Springs half this year was my running highlight. After a good chunk of time struggling with motivation and injury, that course and race reminded why I love the sport.

I should say that finishing second in my age is the best moment this year, or the Long Island half where I PR’ed but I think I will go with the Fitness Mag half where I ran with a totally KT taped shoulder. At the time it was a PR race and I still don’t know how I did it with that random injury after not sleeping for 9 nights and experiencing the worst pain of my life – worse than giving birth to my son. It’s been a fun run of a year!meredith @ The Cookie ChRUNicles recently posted..Three Tip Tuesday – Life Without The Scale Part Two

I had such a great running year. Last November I had surgery (laprascopic) to remove some girl parts because of a borderline tumor. It came out of left field and all I could think about was not being able to run while recovering. I was only out of commision for a month. My first run was right after Christmas and I was SLOW! But a month later I ran the Manhattan Half and PR’ed with a 2:13. A month after that I ran a half in Little Rock, AK and shaved 4 more minutes off my time. And by this past November I ran the Trenton half (just 6 days after running NYCM) and shaved 2 more minutes off my half time. I also set a PR in the full marathon in May at the NJ Marathon. And I set a 10K PR too in October. 2013 was the year of PRs for me.

Best running moments were crossing the finish line of the NYCM 45 minutes faster than my first marathon, and second was finding out my half marathon time in Oct and smashing my goal. Oh and meeting lots of awesome running friends, last year I was a loner loser runner!Charlie recently posted..Winter Cycling Tips

It was a bitter-sweet running year for me – I completed two half marathons and PRed on my second one, even though I didn’t really train for it. Unfortunately, I pulled a ligament and was out-of-commission for a couple of months. Lesson learned: TRAINING IS KEY!Anna @ Fitness à la Anna recently posted..10 Tips to Conquer Holiday Indulgences

I think my highlight has been getting into trails. I had a wonderful half-marathon PR in San Francisco which I was so excited about, but this is the year I fell in love with trails and nothing makes me happier now!

I have to say – I’ve found you pretty inspirational this year. Last year, we were about the same speed, you were a tiny bit faster. And now look at you…a speedmeister! You’ve worked so hard, congratulations.Cathryn recently posted..Could Boulder be colder?